“I should say the opposite. A feeding glutton looks worse than a feeding famished man.”
“At any rate—this woman I have in mind isn’t poor. That’s not a disadvantage, is it?”
“Not a hopeless obstacle,” said I. “By the way, what are her disadvantages?”
“Well—she’s been married before.”
“So have I,” said I.
“But, on the other hand, she has no children.”
“Neither have I,” said I, without thinking. I hastened to add, “My only child is married.”
“And splendidly married,” said he with the snob’s enthusiasm.
“To return to the lady,” said I dryly. “Why don’t you marry her yourself?”
He had drunk several more glasses of the champagne. He laughed. “She wouldn’t look at me. She sees straight through me. She wants a man with domestic tastes. I’m about as fit for domestic life as a fire-engine horse for an old maid’s phæton.”